8th October

School time! We didn’t go by bike because a bit like in Goldilocks one bike was too big, one was too small but (thankfully!) there wasn’t one that was just right!!!

On the way there Pascale told me an interesting fact. She is 57 years old and retired a few months ago. She was able to do this because she has 3 children. If she had only had 2 then she would have had to have worked until she was in her 60’s (I can’t quite remember the exact age, but around 63 I think). Interesting.

We arrived at the school and met Martine whose class I will be talking to on Monday. She is lovely and in between talking about the lesson she gave me a French lesson! She has also invited me to visit her in Rennes, where she lives, next Wednesday and she will show me around! How lovely!

On Monday I will be talking to BTEC students who are doing elderly care and child care. Half an hour- twice- as the class is split in two! I will:

⁃ Introduce myself. I have decided I must do this in French

⁃ Tell them about my career, qualifications etc

⁃ Explain what we have in the UK as regards child care and elderly care and how it works

⁃ Talk about the NHS So! Someone has some work to do before then! Really looking forward to it but I’m sure I will be very nervous! I’m going to set up a WhatsApp Group to seek the advice and opinions of the LSMP gang so all will be well 🙂

We then had a look around the school. It’s fabulous. Students are aged from 13 to 22. They come from all over France and can board from the age of 15. It’s a vocational college and the main subjects studied there are farming, commerce and social/health care. I was introduced to the headmaster and then we went for coffee in the staff room. It was buzzing! There was chocolate and biscuits on the tables for people to help themselves and stood in the corner were 2 huge sacks of baguettes! I really wanted to take a photo but didn’t. It all felt lovely and relaxed- and so cool. The coffee was in tiny cups, everyone was kissing each other on both cheeks, there were teachers stood outside having a smoke. I know! But it still looked cool. Loved it.

I got my sewing machine out in France for the first time today. Hurrah! I can’t tell you what I’m making at the moment because it’s a surprise for someone. Suffice to say I passed a happy couple of hours with my machine à coudre 🙂

Pascale and Jean Luc bought another property in December. It’s in Cherrueix which is about 15mins drive from Dol and right on the coast. Pascale is painting it at the moment and invited me to go over and have a look. It is beautiful! They have put a new roof on and windows in. It has no staircase yet so having a look upstairs was interesting! The view is stunning and the intention is to have the sitting room upstairs because that’s where you can get the best view of the sea. Outside at the back is a garden and then out through a gate and you are almost at the sea! They plan to use it for their family but also as an AirBnB. It’s a must!

Day 2 of Couch to 5K today- me and Jo. I’m loving it. Very achey though. Day 3 on Thursday:)

I was given beetroot from the garden today. Along with rhubarb and goat’s cheese, beetroot is my favourite food. It was delicious! Really earthy taste. Homemade apple tart again too. It’s a good job I’m doing the 5K thing!

By the way, does anybody know who Keith is?! Just kidding! I’m using a language app that Tom told me about. It’s called Duolingo. I think you can pay to use it but I’m just playing for free at the moment. It’s good. Quite basic but it makes you think. You get hearts if you get the answer right and then go up levels etc. All day today I kept getting messages from the owl logo from the app (small and green and winks a lot- bit like Orville) saying I was being followed by Keith! Who is Keith? Go away!

Bonne nuit 🙂